Brothers
by Chaos Theorum
Summary: During the the razing of Konoha by a combined force of Sound and Akatsuki, one man makes a choice to protect those he left behind, no matter the cost. //Good chance for epic\\ Angst,Death,Violence,and Romance of course SasuSaku,NaruIno
1. Homecoming

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**Homecoming**

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_It wasn't supposed to be this way_

His blade was a blur, opening the stomachs of two Sound foot soldiers without breaking stride as he dashed down an alley.

_The roofs are too obvious, so as long as there aren't any new dead ends it shouldn't be a problem…_

Bursting out of the alley and onto the High Street, he found 15 Sound chunin waiting for him.

_Word traveled that fast huh…I guess my defection wasn't as subtle as I'd thought…_

It wasn't like the movies, they didn't charge one at a time. These were squads and they worked as one. Regardless of their formation, he flowed around their defenses like water poured into glass full of ice, finding the tiniest gap and then rupturing organs or severing arteries with his bare hands. The dropped like flies, until he was alone surrounded by death. Flicking blood from his fingertips, he resumed his breakneck pace towards Acadamy. But time had fogged his memory and eventually he was lost. He decided to risk the roofs to gauge his course.

_Sneak in, kill the targets, and leave, that was how it should have gone down…_

In two leaps he reached the skyline, and stared in shock as Konoha burned. Screams echoed across the village, and the sounds of battle were everywhere. They had worked faster than he could have imagined. He was horrified to see his…home…yes, it was his home so desecrated. The rage he felt upon seeing it being razed to the ground left no doubt to that.

_And no matter what I say or do, I had a hand in starting this…_

His eyes caught the shimmer of a concealment jutsu just in time to dodge the "wind sword" of an Akatsuki shock trooper. The shinobi created two Kage Bunshin as he readied another jutsu.

"I guess your eyes aren't all their cracked up to be if you couldn't see this coming." He

tittered, indicating the destruction around them."I mean, could you be any stupider?" The laugh slowly died as his clones were destroyed in the blink of an eye.

He felt a sharp pain, and looked down to see a nodachi jammed through his sternum. He looked upon his red-eyed opponent in amusment,

" So what does this make you now Uchiha? A traitor of traitors?" The nameless shinobi chuckled.

"At least this time I'm doing it for the right reasons!" Sasuke hissed as he booted the dying soldier from the roof. He didn't wait to here the tell-tale crunch to make sure of his enemies demise. He was already speeding towards his destination, his direction reaffirmed by the higher view.

"Danzo and the Sandaime's aides," he growled at his true opponent, lurking somewhere in the village "Those were the targets, and then you do this…damn you Madara!" He blazed his way to the Acadamy, cutting down any who stood in his way.

_As much as I hate to admit it, I can't do this without that idiot…I only hope he listens._


	2. Would I Trust Me?

CT: so now the story really starts, I hope you like it and I'd like to point out that I am looking for a beta, someone I can bounce ideas off of as well as have critique my work

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**Would **_**I**_** Trust Me?**

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"Naruto, watch your 6!"

Neji's comment was appreciated but unneeded, for no sooner had the words been said that one of Naruto's kunai found its way into the cowardly assailants face.

"Thanks Neji." The blond called as he finished another Sound nin. The Hyugga gave a small smile then resumed his assault on the invaders.

Naruto smiled, glad that the older boy had accepted the gratitude. Neji hadn't really spoken to him since he had spurned Hinata's less-than-subtle advances. However, time had seemed to have done it's work, and the Hyyuga had been warming up to the Fox ninja once again.

His thoughts returned to the battle, wielding a kunai in each hand as he tore through the enemy ranks. This was Naruto's element; close-quarters with enemies on all sides.

Sure he did fine one-on-one, most shinobi did. But no one could fight a mob like Naruto could. The constant movement prevented him from focusing too much on one thing and allowed him to see the "big picture". The tiniest of movements wasn't lost on him when he got into his swing, and when he did he was a beast, a demon armed with righteous fury and a myriad of blades.

Which was exactly what the Sound-nin thought of him, as the whiskered-marked warrior dodged their attacks with ease, swaying like a willow in a strong wind. A scar-faced jonin took a swing with his katana, with Naruto leaping away to avoid the blade and landing softly on his back. As the remaining Sound closed in around him, the Fox spun his legs like a dancer; knocking back three chunin, slicing the Achillies' tendons of two others and bringing himself back to his feet all at the same time. As the blonde ninja continued to decimate their numbers, the Sound shinobi soon broke rank, confused and disoriented by the whirlwind of blades, limbs, and death that Naruto had become.

Naruto smirked, the battle all but over in his mind. After the enemy gave in to their surprise at his unconventional fighting style it was simply a matter of picking off the stragglers.

Might Guy had first taught Naruto the basics of capoeira after their mission to rescue Gaara, having noticed that Naruto didn't seem to employ any real taijutsu techniques of his own. As Fate would have it, Naruto had taken to the erratic yet fluid style like a duck to water. The Fox showed a prodigious affinity for taijutsu once he was able to apply rhythm to his strikes, and the natural bending and curving of the martial art proved a perfect conduit for channeling his wind chakra into any strike he chose. Naruto reveled in the sheer unpredictability, a single punch leading into any attack imaginable, mimicking his own personality perfectly.

As the dust settled only one Sound nin remained, and Naruto gave him a kunai in the base of his skull as a parting gift. Naruto turned to his teammates and found Neji checking the condition of the dozens of Sound ninja on the ground around them, which was a fancy way of saying "kicking them to make sure they wouldn't be a further problem". Meanwhile, Ino was kneeling over one of the Sound, no doubt gleaning troop positions from his unconscious mind.

After she'd finished, the blond kunoichi turned to Neji, trouble painted all over her face.

The Hyyuga knew that nothing good could come from that kind of face, but he had to know so he could pass the potentially vital information on to Master Guy and the other Jounin squads.

"What's the damage Ino? What did you see?" He asked, a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"From what I could pull out of him, these ninja were a small break-off from the invasion's left battalion. I think they seperated about fifteen minutes before these guys hit the Academy. The remaining troops from the Left were headed for the Tower." Ino reported, her throat slightly hoarse from the smoke.

Neji winced at the news. If the sixty-odd shinobi and footmen they had just defeated were a **small** break-off, then the invasion force was much larger than anyone had anticipated. He just prayed that Ten-ten and the others could hold the Tower and stay alive as well.

As Ino set about healing the handful of chunin that made up the Academy's defenses, the kunoichi's eyes fell on her orange clad team mate. He actually didn't wear that much orange anymore, but he'd started wearing his old fur-lined coat again after cutting off the sleeves and turning it into a Jounin vest. She'd only really started **noticing** him after he came back from his time in the mountains, and she'd been playfully wondering when Mr. Dead Last had gotten the power, and body, of a Greek god. She chuckled lightly in spite of herself, knowing that now was the worst possible time to be lusting over the Fox. But she knew that if she couldn't take her mind off all the death around her, she would break. She caught sight of Naruto's newly colored eyes. She noticed again how the shine of the now violet orbs seemed to dull after each battle. Naruto looked up from cleaning his kunai and caught her studying him. The purple seemed brighten ever so slightly as he gave her a tired smile. She reluctantly blushed and tried to give him a genuinely happy smile in return, but it was difficult.

Naruto saw Ino's genuine attempt to lift his spirits, and it worked, kind of. He was glad that he had been paired with his fellow blond instead of Sakura. If his pink haired friend had seen him smile after he'd fought off dozens of enemy shinobi, she would have thought he'd enjoyed the killing, or that he was honestly happy. But his fellow blond somehow knew that that was just his way of coping with the nightmare they were neck deep in.

Normally he would have raced off as soon as the last man had dropped, determined to take out every invader himself if he could. But as much as it tore him up to sit and wait, he had his orders. Baa-chan and Kakashi knew strategy, and if they said that he was best serving the village by guarding the Academy, then that's what he'd do.

As he wearily ran his fingers through hair, he thought about Sakura. Not whether or not she was safe, since she was as strong as a monster. He wondered how she was dealing with the fact that Sasuke had almost certainly played a major part in the attack. He knew she was still head over heels for the Uchiha and he had given up on her loving him a long time ago. But he hated to think what it would do to his friend if she saw Sasuke, or worse, had to fight him to protect the Hokage Tower where she was posted.

Neji suddenly yelled as he was struck from behind by some green lightning jutsu. Naruto spun in an instant to find a man in Akatsuki-patterned jonin gear standing over his friend. Naruto and Ino were in shock, how had some one snuck-up on Neji with his Byakugan?! The nameless shinobi scoffed through a warped version of an ANBU mask and kicked the fallen Hyugga, sending rolling towards his teammates. As soon as Naruto saw that Neji was still breathing, he rushed the black-clad shinobi, Rasengan in hand. Suddenly the Akatsuki-nin seemed to "blur", Forcing Naruto to rip as much chakra out of his attack as he could before his Rasengan hit one of Neji's chunin who had still been strong enough to try and attack the invader. Naruto moment of horror and confusion was all the Black Ninja required, gripping the Leaf-nin's face and slamming his head into the ground. Stars exploded in Naruto's eyes as he looked at the hazy masked face of his enemy. Time seemed to slow as the Akatsuki-nin went for the kill while the Fox willed his body to move. A blinding light suddenly filled his vision as he heard Ino gasp and felt hot blood splatter over his face.

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The light receded, leaving a gory, gaping hole where the dark ninja's face had been. The Fox ninja pushed the bleeding heap off of his chest and rose to his feet, the fuzziness in his head quickly dissipating. Naruto looked for then looked to his teammate and the chunin who had been on the receiving end of his watered down Rasengan. They were both alive, but unconscious. Still slightly shaken, his eyes found Ino's face. His jaw tightened as he followed her gaze, and saw none other than Sasuke Uchiha striding calmly from the shadows.

"Ino, take Neji and get the others inside." Naruto said softly. The girl blinked then shook her head emphatically.

"No way Naruto, I'm not going to leave you alone with this monster. I'm staying right h-" She started to say, when Naruto turned and she saw his eyes filled with a cold brightness that chilled her to the core. She slowly nodded at set about herding the chunin into the Academy. With that settled, Naruto turned his attention back to Sasuke.

The Uchiha had never heard Naruto sound so icy before, and he had to admit it creeped him out a bit. Ino looked to Naruto again, concern for the Fox ninja clearly showing in her eyes. With her chakra strength, she hoisted Neji over her shoulder and, after one backward glance at the Fox and the Avenger, she retreated into the Academy with the rest of their squad.

As soon as Naruto was sure the kunoichi was safely inside, he made his move. Sasuke barely had time to register the change in Naruto's chakra before he found himself lifted off the ground and pinned to the wall, the cold steel of Naruto's kunai pressed against his throat.

"What the FUCK are you doing here Sasuke!?" the blond growled, sounding more like an animal than a man.

Sasuke didn't bat an eye at the threat, pushing away his shock at Naruto's power. He responded as calmly as ever.

"We need to talk, Naruto. I-"

"BULLSHIT!" the Leaf ninja interjected. Sasuke started at the venom in his former friend's voice, "We had the chance to talk a long time ago, when Sakura and I saw you for the first time in three years! Or better yet, we should have talked when you decided to put your fucking Chidori through my chest when I tried to bring you home! I know how talking to you ends..."

Now Sasuke was getting angry, he was trying to **save** the village, and here was Naruto about to slit his throat.

_But should I really be surprised that he doesn't trust me? _

_Would I trust me? _

_...No_

_In fact, if I was him I probably would have killed me by now. _

_After everything I've done to him, and to...to_

_...Sakura_

_Did I expect him to greet me with open arms? _

_...Maybe I did, but-This isn't about me _

_This isn't...._

_This isn't..._

"This isn't what I wanted..." Sasuke whispered.

Naruto was stunned, for the first time ever, he saw tears in the Uchiha's eyes.

He slowly released his hold and Sasuke slid to his feet.

"What are you talking about Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was shaky, this wasn't the cold, dead-eyed Sasuke he'd met in Orochimaru's compound.

He sounded like he used to, like he sounded all those years ago, when they'd become friends on that bridge in Hidden in Mist.

Sasuke looked Naruto dead in the eye, his Sharingan blazing.

"I need your help to make this right."

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CT: I'd really like some input from you guys

one love

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